102.
They run, heedless of the drum sand, raising an unholy
thunder. The worm gaining on them. They run into sand, then
into pea gravel that rolls underfoot. The worm still gaining.
As they reach the rocks on the far side, Paul stumbles and
falls. Jessica runs on without him before she realizes Paul’s
been left behind. She turns back.
Paul rises to his feet as the sandworm surfaces -- the first
time we’ve seen a worm’s mouth fully revealed. A vast half-
circle of death ringed with crysknife teeth in the moonlight.
Paul stands frozen in front of it. Its spice-laden breath
washes over him.
A distant THUDDING echoes across the sand. A thumper!
The giant eyeless beast turns away, submerging and questing
away across the sand after that rhythm. Paul and Jessica
watch the worm go.
They turn back to the rock outcrop.
They climb upward.
132 EXT. ROCKY BASIN - NIGHT 132
At the top they find a natural amphitheater with rough rock
walls and a floor of sandy earth. PLANTS are growing here:
sage and saguaro and mesquite among the jagged stones.
PAUL
Someone called it.
Paul makes a hand signal: we are not alone.
Quiet STIRRINGS all around them. Dozens of silhouettes rise
against the stars. They are surrounded by an entire tribe!
Paul and Jessica spin, seeking escape -- but there’s no way
out. They are encircled. They stand back-to-back.
STILGAR (O.S.)
Do not run. You will only waste
your bodies’ water.
Four ATTACKERS move forward, hands on their knives, to claim
the interlopers’ lives.
PAUL
Stilgar!
A startled silence.
102.
